Notes: Highfield Road Halt was situated on the Great Central Railway’s Brymbo branch which had originally been opened for goods in the autumn of 1887 by the Wrexham, Mold & Connahs Quay Railway (WM&CQR). The line linked Brymbo to Wrexham Central and became part of the GCR on 1st January 1905. The WM&CQR introduced a passenger service onto the line on 1st August 1889. From the start the line had to compete with a Great Western Railway (GWR) branch that also connected Wrexham to Brymbo.

On 1st May 1905 the GWR introduced a ‘railmotor’ onto their line, and they also opened additional halts to secure more traffic.

Not to be outdone the GCR followed suit also introducing a ‘railmotor’ and opening halts. The GCR opened two halts one, of which was Highfield Road, which first appeared in the timetable in May 1905.

Highfield Road Halt was located on the east side of the road after which it was named. It was in a cutting and had only basic facilities which included a short platform on the south side of the single-track line, and a simple waiting shelter. A path linked the platform to the road on the south side of the line.

From the start passenger services operated to Brymbo and to Wrexham Central calling at all stations. There were four services in each direction on Monday to Friday, but an additional six services ran on Saturdays. The GCR line struggled to compete with the GWR route and, by the end of the first decade of the 20th century, a bus service was also competing against the railway.  On 1st March 1917 the GCR withdrew the passenger service from Brymbo to Wrexham Central, and Highfield Road Halt station was closed completely.

The original purpose of the branch had been to carry goods, and it had always had more goods than passenger trains; it therefore remained lucrative to the GCR. On 1st January 1923 the line became part of the London & North Eastern Railway (LNER).

On 1st January 1948 the line through Highfield Halt became part of the nationalised British Railways (Western Region). On 30th November 1954 British Railways closed the line through Highfield Road Halt from Plas Power to Brymbo Junction North Fork. The track through the station remained in situ for a few years but it was lifted in 1958.

By 2011 the cutting in which the halt had stood had been filled in. The bridge that carried Highfield Road over the line was in situ at this time.

Sources:

• The Wrexham, Mold & Connah’s Quay Railway including The Buckley Railway – James I C Boyd – Oakwood Press 1991 ISBN 978-0853614173
• The Wrexham, Mold & Connahs Quay Railway – J M Dunn - Oakwood Press 1957
  
• Railway passenger stations in Great Britain: a chronology by Michael Quick (Railway & Canal Historical Society 2009)
• Clinker’s Register of Closed Passenger Stations and Goods Depots by C R Clinker (Pub: Avon Anglia 1978)

Route map drawn by Alan Young, Bradshaw from Chris Hind.

To see other stations between Wrexham Central and Brymbo (WM&CQR) click on the station name:

Wrexham Central, Wrexham Exchange, Rhosddu, Moss & Pentre, New Broughton Road Halt, Plas Power (WM&CQR), Brymbo (WM&CQR)